CT Early Childhood Funder Collaborative

The Connecticut Early Childhood Funder Collaborative co-sponsored two events in December and January as part of their effort in advancing knowledge development on early childhood issues.

On December 13, the ECFC CT State Department of Education and the Office of Early Childhood presented a symposium, Family and Community Engagement, at Gateway Community College in New Haven. More than 100 participants including members from the Commissioner’s Roundtable, funders from the ECFC, early childhood leaders and practitioners, parents and community members to determine common definition and principles of high impact family engagement for better alignment of policies, resources, more effective parent engagement and ultimately better outcomes for children.

While the development of a common definition of family engagement is essential to their work, the ECFC celebrates another important process, co-creation. This process of working has brought together a wide range of voices– state agencies, educators, early childhood providers, parents and families — who toiled over the draft statement reviewed at the symposium. You can read more about the co-creation process in the ECFC publication, Co-Creation: Viewing Partnerships Through A New Lens.

On January 10, the ECFC and the Office of Early Childhood presented Exploring Shared Services, a conference for early care and education providers, at Middlesex Community College. The program presented information on a framework that allows a network of centers and/or homes to share staff and costs, usually through a “Hub” or central office. This is a way of strengthening an organization’s capacity, by pooling needs and sharing resources, and reinvesting the time and dollar savings into improving program quality. The goal of the program was to enable early care and education providers to become stronger, more financially sound and efficient, and better equipped to offer high-quality early learning opportunities for children and support for their families.

Photos from 12/13/17: Photo 1: CT State Department of Education COO Charlene Russell-Tucker, and ECFC members Maria Sanchez of American Savings Foundation and Kim Russo of The Fund for Greater Hartford; Photo 2: ECFC Consultant Anne Henderson, and ECFC members Richard Sussman of Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Toral Maher of Liberty Bank Foundation, Maria Sanchez of American Savings Foundation, Kim Russo of The Fund for Greater Hartford, Stephanie Miller of Trust for Learning, and R. David Addams of Graustein Memorial Fund, and ECFC Executive Director Carol O’Donnell.